6th Term Here We Go!

5th term campers are on their way out this morning. Get ready to follow this blog for daily updates on our final summer term in our 1st year as KIVU!

Trails 2000

Yesterday some of the campers chose "community service" for their one day pursuit. They got to go work on some of the world famous mountain biking trails that one can find all over Durango. I got an email this morning from the Trails 2000 employee who supervised our crew and here is what he said:

Thank You Camp Kivu !

We had a great afternoon of trail work today and everybody was fantastic! We put in a very difficult trail segment of the Skyline trail on the steep hillside.

Here are a couple of photos:

Thank you for all your help!

:)

did you hear? we love the kitchen so much, we've decided to make it a permanent home. food shelves make great beds!

The First Year of the KIVU Gap Year Program!

We are gearing up for our first KIVU Gap Year students to arrive in Denver on September 9th! We are so excited to have 7 students signed up and ready to experience "Vocational Discovery in a Global Community".

We already have 35 students expressing interest in our program for 2011-12. If you haven't heard about the KIVU Gap Year or about the idea of a gap year, check out our website for more information!


We will be launching a daily blog for you to be able to see what is happening in the day to day life of our Gap students. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon!

Ice Cream Social

15 gallons of ice cream, 25 bananas and 12

topping choices later... We have some seriously HAPPY CAMPERS!!

Pancake Breakfast and Another Hike

The fellas came down for the 5th time this summer to help us make pancakes (plain, chocolate chip, blueberry, oatmeal, bananas) for the campers. Such a big help to kitchen staff and I think they have fun doing it as well. Take a look at some of their creations!

We decided to hike the mountain overlooking camp again today. It was a great time to talk about the summer, the term, camp and life in general. Here are a couple of fun pics.

The Hollywood Stars Are in the House!

It's Hollywood night here at Kivu, and we are making the campers feel like the true stars they are! Dinner is a mix and mingle with tons of fruit and veggies and dips, basil pesto turkey mini sandwiches, meatballs, pitas and hummus! Completed with sparkling punch, it's been a big hit so far! Gone With the Wind is on the big screen and the classic movies scores are playing. After dinner the campers will walk the red carpet through mobs of paparazzi and numerous sightings of celebrities. They will enter the theater for a private screening of the movies they made earlier this week. Then awards will be given, and they will head back for the after party where they will dance the night away while munching on cake balls and popcorn! What a great night to be a celebrity at Camp Kivu!!

Top Chef Take 5

Today was the cook's and kitchie's 5th Top Chef competition! It was awesome and so much fun! Special thanks to Joe, Nate, Cat and DD for judging and putting on nice faces even when the last dessert wasn't the best we've had :) Here are a few pics:

On the Mountain

A few of us from Junior Camp had a great time hiking up the mountain next to camp as we discussed the stories of Jesus. We talked about what it means to truly follow in the way of Jesus and we read some compelling stories about how Jesus showed the world his love by going to the least of these. By showing their worth and value, he declared to all of humanity that they are loved by God.

First Day of 5th Term

Welcome Term 5!

Garden Growth

My Garden- like the Beach-
Denotes there be-a Sea-
That's Summer-
Such as These-the Pearls
She fetches-such as Me
-Emily Dickinson

As the summer has been progressing and campers are coming in and out, it's been cool to think about the growth that this camp facilitates. I've seen campers and staff grow in many ways; spiritually, mentally, emotionally...Kids and college students becoming better versions of themselves, learning...and ultimately becoming more like Christ, a small step towards many more years of growth to come.

I think the Dickinson poem above is more about the mind than her actual garden. But, I wouldn't be thinking so much about growth if it hadn't been for our actual camp garden. You see, we have our first fruits! Strawberries, Basil, Broccoli, Cabbage, Squash, Tomatoes...all sprouting up! I know we started late planting for the summer, and I know we won't have enough food grown to feed the entire camp. However, it is so cool to see the reward given from a lot of hard work, from a lot of different people (Brent, Mark, Drew, Hays). It is so cool to see that when something is watered and fertilized and weeded and pruned and given sunlight and some major loving, it grows! What a great metaphor to be reminded of!

Some photos of the garden...growing :) And Sharley getting sassy... And Brent getting ???...

Good-bye...Hello Day

This day wears our staff out emotionally! It is so tough to say good-bye to campers who you have come to love and respect and then turn around and put on your happy "hello" faces! I think this term was the most difficult for our staff to let go of. But I love seeing that! I love seeing our staff loving your kids so much that after only two weeks, good-bye is so tough! You have great kids and we have absolutely loved having them this term! Thanks!

Now we are gearing up for fifth term! We cannot wait!

River Rafting!!

We had such a fun day rafting the Animas river down in Durango. The girls wanted to shout out to all of there moms on the blog. So if you see your kids in these pictures they say, "I love you Mom!!"